Invesitage the kidnapping of a boy by following a trailer of mutilated corpses by visualizing the scenes of lethal crimes. That's the premise of The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, a new "weird fiction horror" title from The Astronauts. The team of ex-People Can Fly developers have harnessed the Unreal Engine 3 for the title, which if the teaser is any indicator looks quite interesting.

Game designer Adrian Chmielarz promises fans they can expect an experience built from the ground up to be meaningful:

"What we care about the most is that the players feel like they’re really there. Immersion is our number one priority. It’s a game about exploration and discovery. We’re not abandoning the gameplay – on the contrary: we’re trying to strip it down to the bone and make sure it’s always meaningful and truly makes the experience better."

As a fan of games that can be described with the phrase "meaningful experience" and point out in their announcement press release that "immersion" is a "priority" I'm pretty excited about Vanishing of Ethan Carter. Just look at this teaser. That dude is burning a teddy bear and children's clothing, how messed up is that? I can't decide whether to pull a blanket over my head or look for clues.

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is planned for release via digital distribution in 2013. Depending on how the game actually looks in motion, The Astronauts have certainly set the scene to really impress.

Peace-Child It's pretty subtle. Just the nonchalance and cold smile of the man as he burns the various toys and clothing, clearly a child's belongings -- probably safe to assume they're the kidnapping victim's. Gives me a shiver, yikes.